I want to go to an ivy league but I’m not too sure how I did on my APUSH exam and I want to be a polisci major. If I get a 4 on this exam, a 5 on AP Language and Composition, and I already have a 4 on AP Human Geography would that hurt my chances?
The short answer is no. I’m sure someone else will offer the longer answer below.
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Thank you.
AP test scores mean little in college admissions. A 4 or 5 certainly isn’t a negative.
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I agree. This is both from personal experience (we had no qualms about reporting 4s) and that fact that almost every school we visited during our search made it very clear that they care that students take the class and do well in it and could care less if they took the tests. Very few top schools accept AP credit anyway, and if they do, usually a 4 will suffice.
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I hear it all the time - and I don’t understand why it should be true. AP scores provide a confirmation on the mastery of the subject using a standardized test, not just the school specific test. The fact that the scores are asked in common app and actually presented as part the application makes me wonder why people are so sure they don’t matter.
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Indeed, Harvard’s admissions director around 2009 said that AP (or IB) scores were more predictive of college performance than other academic indicators (SAT subject tests, HS GPA, SAT or ACT).
However, availability of AP scores for admission purposes is often lesser, since most AP exams are taken at the end of 12th grade, and those taken earlier may mostly reflect opportunity to take them and be more likely to be less important ones like human geography.
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When I compare a 13 year old statement about statistical correlation to actual conversations with at least a dozen AOs in the last five years, including Harvard itself, I’m afraid I don’t put much weight on this oft-repeated data point.
Conversations with many admissions officers who actually make the decisions.
“I don’t even see AP scores. We use them for placement. It’s literally in the name”. - T20 AO
Feel free to collect feedback from others who have been through the admissions process, discuss with AO’s, etc., and make your own decision. But consider that there may be a reason you hear it all the time.
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The consultant we used, who was an AO at an Ivy prior to going private, did NOT recommend reporting a 4 to an Ivy, particularly if it was in the applicant’s area of interest.
Is the consultant right? Is that AO experience outdated? I don’t know. I am only offering it as a data point in your decision.
Personally, I wouldn’t submit any if you feel your AP results were splotchy. People who think a 4 is fine (and it may be) seem to also be saying that AOs don’t care about them or don’t look at them. If that’s the case, don’t risk submitting them because if you do then they can’t unsee them.
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A 4 vs 5 here and there seems highly unlikely to matter, but a string of 3s and 4s vs almost all 5s is definitely telling when trying to compare kids who both have high GPAs. Our school puts them all on the transcript(and the test is required if the course taken), and the CC’s have been clear that AP scores do matter, at least for our school, in their experience based on the feedback they have from AOs familiar with the school. They don’t matter as much as course rigor and grades, etc, but they do play a part and their opinion is strong scores can be helpful for highly selective schools, particularly in the areas of academic interests, especially for engineering/stem. A colleague’s private consultant told them essentially the same thing, and added that in the realm of TO, very good AP scores can add a positive boost to the application.
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Every info session we attended. Mostly NESCACS and Ivys.
Worked out just fine for us. And yes, it was very clearly in the area of interest. Even Princeton accepts 4s for certain subjects (incidentally, APUSH is one of them Advanced Placement | Undergraduate Academic Advising).
Personally, I’d rather report a 4 than have someone wondering why I didn’t report that particular score.
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This point is something I think about a lot. If you took the course, AOs know you probably took the test, and not submitting the score leaves them to assume you did poorly. A 4 is a solid score, and I’d rather schools know I got a 4 than wonder if I scored poorly.
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I’m in the camp that believes AP scores matter, particularly since SAT IIs are gone and SAT ‘test-optional’ is widespread. Officially, APs are not a required part of any application, so, of course, the AOs will say ‘they’re only used for placement’. Moreover, at $100/exam I don’t expect AOs to openly admit their importance as this will be seen to disadvantage lower income students. But, at highly selective schools, they expect to see the AP courses and if they’re on your transcript it’s only logical for the AO to look for an exam score.
We reported AP scores for DSs. They were mostly 5s with some 4s. There was one 3 (sick during the exam) which we did not report.
I will repeat the same thing I said on your other thread.
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You don’t need to submit your AP scores to any college if you don’t want to.
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If you don’t get accepted at an Ivy (or Stanford since that was in your other thread), you won’t know why…just like the other 95% or so who are denied admission at these schools every year.
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I am wondering something that was also asked on your other (now closed) thread: Why? Why do you want to attend Stanford or an Ivy League university?
A related question: There are 8 Ivy League schools. There are at least as many other similarly highly ranked universities in the US. Which ones are going to be a better fit for you?
To someone in high school this might seem like a silly question. To someone with degrees from universities at this level, this really is not a silly question. These universities are not a good fit for nearly as many students as think they want to attend them. They are each a great university for some students, but not for every strong student.
My point is to try to understand what you want in a university.
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Re: AP scores. Dartmouth doesn’t award any AP credits at all. Don’t bother sending them your scores at all.
Actually, Dartmouth gives subject credit and advanced placement for some AP scores, as listed at Credit on Entrance and Exemptions Charts .
What Dartmouth does not give for AP scores is credit against the 35 courses required for graduation, as described at Does Dartmouth grant credit for AP, A-Level, IB, or CLEP examinations? .
In other words, it can still be worth sending AP scores to Dartmouth, which may allow you to replace some frosh level courses with more advanced courses or free electives.
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@ucbalumnus if this OP is concerned about how any of his AP scores will affect admissions…he just shouldn’t submit those scores.
If he wants AP credit and the school awards it…he can send the scores AFTER he is accepted. He won’t even have senior year AP scores when he applies.
The mix of 4’s vs. 5’s on AP tests will not be the reason that you don’t get in.
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